tressure

American  

[tresh-er] / ˈtrɛʃ ər /

noun

1. Heraldry. a narrower diminutive of the orle, usually ornamented with fleurs-de-lis at the edges and often doubled.

2. Numismatics. an ornamental border enclosing the type on a coin or medal.

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tressure British  

/ ˈtrɛʃə, ˈtrɛsjʊə /

noun

1. heraldry a narrow inner border on a shield, usually decorated with fleurs-de-lys

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Other Word Forms

• tressured adjective

Etymology

Origin of tressure

1275–1325; late Middle English < Middle French, equivalent to tress ( er ) to braid, plait (derivative of tresse tress ) + -ure -ure; replacing Middle English tressour < Middle French tresseor, tressoir

Example Sentences

The arms of House Poole were a blue plate on white, framed by a grey tressure.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

For the Stouts, chevrony russet and gold, for Slate, a grey field within a double tressure white.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

This double tressure might have suggested a gridiron to unsophisticated passers-by.

From Old and New London Volume I by Thornbury, Walter

The Tressure or flowered tressure is a figure which is correctly described by Woodward’s incorrect description of the orle as cited above, being a narrow inner border of the shield.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 "Helmont, Jean" to "Hernosand" by Various

To his second son, Toalknack, he assigned Albania, or Scotland, with ‘Or, a Lion rampant, gules,’ which, says he, with the addition of the double tressure, continue the arms of Scotland.

From The Curiosities of Heraldry by Lower, Mark Antony